Christianity and Islam

[9-18-06 Editor's Note: I erred in listing Rod Dreher as a Catholic author, as he blogged that he recently became a member of the Orthodox faith.]

With all of the hoopla over Pope Benedict's lecture at Regensburg where he quoted a 14th-century Byzantine emperor who criticized the prophet Muhammad, blogs are going crazy with conversations comparing Christianity and Islam. It has all been quite educational. I want to post three blog links with conversation threads I think you will find insightful:

1. Father Fessio asks the question, "Is dialogue with Islam possible?" at Ignatius Insight.

2. Several threads are crackling at Amy Welborn's "Open Book." This site is doing an excellent job keeping track of who is saying what.

3. Catholic author Rod Dreher has been following this story for a long time and has some excellent insights at Crunchy Con.

The tension between the two religions has been bubbling for a while and the pope looks to be turning up the heat in prompting Muslim leaders to explain their faith publicly through dialogue. I'm not sure where this is going to head, but things are just starting to get interesting, I predict. It would behoove all of us to start brushing up on this issue.